Enter a company called ActiveSymbols, a subsidiary of Logicalis, which had a coming out of sorts at CTIA 2006 earlier this month. Through its "visual search" technology, ActiveSymbols bets it can make embedded cameras in phones - but also in PDAs, webcams, scanners and fax machines - not just more useful and profitable, but fun.

It all started back in during 2003, when Logicalis conceived of an ActiveSymbols pilot program that ran as part of a T-Mobile campaign for the Hulk movie (see top image). People could use their camera phones to take a picture of a 2D barcode - which holds 3x the amount of data as 1D (UPC) barcode - to get free wallpaper for their mobile handset.

At CTIA, Logicalas executive Eric Steinmetzer explained to PDAStreet how ActiveSymbols has now extended this technology from 1D and 2D barcodes to full 3D images. Not only that, it developed four commercial implementations for image searching: SymbolSearch, onePic CRM, MobilePromote, and MorphMe.

With ActiveSymbols, images aren't decoded directly on the phone; even the most powerful smartphone doesn't have nearly enough juice to do that. A picture is sent over a wireless network - most likely 3G - where a ActiveSymbols server, based on its patent-pending technology, at the other end performs the decoding and matches the picture to a brand or a set of predefined tasks and services.

Steinmetzer said only 30 percent of trained images are required for full recognition. He compared it to fingerprinting, where investigators need only five points to make a positive match.

ActiveSymbols In Action
SymbolSearch's aim is to support consumer-directed mobile advertising in a variety of forms; by enabling retailers and advertisers to drive the purchase of digital content, such as songs, movie trailers, ring tones, wallpaper and games through the acquisition of brands and images by consumers via their camera phones.

With it, users will be able to, for example, compare the price of a CD, DVD or game by taking a picture of its cover. Steinmetzer said, "we're currently in talks with carriers and content providers with large music catalogs."

Users can also search by brand through print advertising (a picture of a Coke, for example) or search by product through a barcode. Additional applications let you automate Real Estate listing look-ups, translate foreign languages (street signs, for instance) or get directions or maps from a picture of a sign.

onePic CRM is used to save and organize copies of important documents while traveling. Capture business cards (ezCard) and expense receipts (ezExpense); send signed documents (ezScan ) via fax; or get research on business contacts sent to mobile phones.

ActiveSymbols will integrate Nextcode's ConnexTo Enterprise Edition solution into ezCard. Nextcode's technology enables standard camera phones to read codes in real-world conditions, regardless of environmental factors such as shadows and poor lighting.

"With ConnexTo and ezCard, camera phone users simply take a photo of a business card in order to scan in the information," said ActiveSymbols President, Jeff Reed. "As a result, they don't have to waste time typing in contact info, and there's no risk of a typo."

MobilePromote would be used by promotional event sponsors (e.g. live sporting events, trade shows). It allows users to sign up for real-time information alerts by photographing a sponsor's signage. ActiveSymbols says the aim is to enable sponsors to access a captive audience to foster loyalty and send event-specific promotions and purchasing information.

The company debuted MobilePromote during March's Toyota Indy 300 at Miami's Homestead-Miami Speedway. Cell phone users subscribed to live race-day alerts and could download content using the service.

MorphMe is an example of a game that uses ActiveSymbols technology. Users can take a picture of themselves or another, which can then be 'morphed' into something else. You can, for example, find out how you look like as a dog, a 'hunk' or 'babe,' a race car driver, or emoticon; or discover which celebrity you most closely resemble.

The photos taken by users are morphed with pictures from the Corbis collection of images.